“[The Holy Ghost] will convince the
world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment.
Of sin, because they believed not in me:
and of justice, because I go to the Father, and you shall see me no longer:
and of judgment, because the prince of this world is already judged.”
Understanding these words of our
Lord take a little effort. It does not help that some translations
substitute the word “convict” for “convince,” and neither seems to fit
directly into the context. The word in the Latin Vulgate is “arguet”
and my Latin dictionary tells me that word may be translated by “make
clear,” “expose,” “accuse,” “rebuke,” or “convince.” Our Lord is saying
that the Holy Ghost will give us a more clear understanding of the things
necessary to salvation and to pleasing God.
In the notes that accompany his
revision of the Douay Rheims Bible, Bishop Richard Challoner, Vicar
Apostolic of the London District, explained that
The Holy Ghost, by his coming brought over many thousands, first, to
a sense of their sin in not believing in Christ. Secondly, to a
conviction of the justice of Christ, now sitting at the right hand
of his Father. And thirdly, to a right apprehension of the judgment
prepared for them that choose to follow Satan, who is already judged
and condemned.
While the passage seems to speak to
the action of the Holy Ghost in the few days after Pentecost, when the
Apostles baptized several thousand converts, it is appropriate to consider
the passage as it has been fulfilled over the centuries, right down to our
own time. As Saint James told us in today’s Epistle, with God, “the Father
of lights ... there is no change, nor shadow of alteration.”
So the action of the Holy Ghost on men and women today is much the same as
it was at the time of the Apostles.
The Holy Ghost made clear the
sinfulness of the rejection of Christ by the Jewish people. Not only had
they been prepared for His coming by Moses and the Prophets, but they had
the opportunity to witness His powers firsthand. This man Jesus, who
identified Himself with God the Father, gave ample demonstrations of power
that could come from nowhere but God—the healing of the sick, the blind, the
dumb, and the lame; the turning of water into wine, walking on it, and
calming its waves in a tempest; even the resurrection of the dead, others’
resurrection as well as His own. To deny His divinity for fear of losing
status at the Temple, or for fear that the Romans might be upset was sinful,
and the Holy Ghost brought this home to the first converts.
In our time we must rely on the
testimony of the ancients as to the miracles, but even our natural
intellects are adequate to know that there is a God, and to help us to see
the reasonableness of those things that come down to us through Scripture
and Tradition. Those who have this opportunity to know Jesus Christ, yet
deny Him for motives of convenience, pride, or pleasure sin as seriously as
those who knew Him in the flesh.
That Christ reigns in heaven “at the
right hand of God the Father Almighty demonstrates His perfect justice. For
centuries, people looked to the Church to proclaim the justice of Christ
throughout the world. Before the Seventeenth century “Peace of Westphalia”
the Popes were called upon to broker the terms of peace between the warring
nations of Christendom.
Today, the nations of the world look
to the Godless entities of a would‑be world government. More often than
not, their “peace keeping” efforts lead to the slaughter of many innocent
people. Half of the world was sold into communist slavery at the end of
World War II. The alleged “world authorities” were quick to start a “police
action” in Korea, and then another in the Congo where they “consistently
bombed, machine-gunned, and looted civilian targets: hospitals, ambulances,
churches, schools, homes, cars.”
Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda, the Persian Gulf—all have horror stories to tell.
Those with access to information better than the Network “News” know that
since globalist authorities intervened in Egypt and Libya, Moslem mobs have
been burning Christian churches, homes, huts, and shops and smashing
Christian gravestones.
We must pray for the Holy Ghost to convince the world of Jesus’ justice—that
there cannot be peace without the Prince of Peace.
Finally, Bishop Challoner referred
to “the judgment prepared for them that choose to follow Satan, who is
already judged and condemned.” What utter folly! Over the centuries we
have occasionally heard of people who deliberately chose to ally with the
Devil—but, most people would avoid an actual “alliance with the devil” and
the phrase is usually just metaphorical. But certainly there are people who
behave as though there were no God, and no natural moral law, not even the
obvious law that society cannot function if people go about beating,
killing, lying, and cheating one another. In some sense they are followers
of Satan. Even more so, those who would use wealth or civil authority to
compel others to oppose God and God’s law are followers of Satan. And,
again, if anything has changed since the time of the Apostles, it is with
man who has become more arrogant, and not with changeless God.
So today we pray that the Holy Ghost
will “convince” us of sin, justice, and judgment—that He will do the same
for those who live like pagans in the modern world. God is “without change
or shadow of alteration,” so we pray:
“O God, who makest the minds of the
faithful to be of one will: grant unto Thy people to love what Thou
commandest, and to desire what thou dost promise; that amidst the various
changing allurments of the world our hearts may there be fixed where true
joys abide.”
That we will avoid sin, injustice, and condemnation with the Devil.
